


After First Hour

by arianapeterson19



Series: Avengers Shorts [89]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Bucky Barnes's Hair, Coffee Addict Tony Stark, Donuts, Getting Together, High School, M/M, Tony Feels, art teacher steve, science teacher bucky, science teacher tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 11:05:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15411525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arianapeterson19/pseuds/arianapeterson19
Summary: By the end of the first week of school Steve had learned three things about his new Wing.1.	Small to moderate explosions were not something to panic over if they originated from Tony’s classroom (and Principal Fury would be pissed if he pulled the fire alarm over it a third time)2.	Bucky and Tony spent a lot of time antagonizing each other (but all pranks seemed pretty harmless)3.	All of the students shipped Bucky and Tony so hard (Even Raychel the Homophobic senior wanted them to get together already)ORThe one where Steve, Bucky, and Tony teach next to each other.





	After First Hour

**Author's Note:**

> That High School Teacher AU no one asked for but I wrote anyway.

Steve Rogers had been teaching art at Shield High School for three years when they moved his classroom to the Science Wing. It was temporary (according to the Powers That Be) because of construction (because the Fine Arts Wing was in desperate need of upgrading but of course it would take three years to complete meaning Steve’s art program either got cut – which would be pointless because then why on earth would they upgrade a wing and cut one of the largest programs – or he had to move classrooms). So a week before school started, Steve found himself arranging his new classroom.

“Hey asshole!” yelled Bucky Barnes, the wrestling coach and Methods of Science teacher who now taught on Steve’s left side. “Turn your damn music down!”

“Um, my music isn’t that loud,” said Steve, sticking his head out of his new room to confront his co-worker, who he really didn’t know that well.

“Not you, I barely even know you,” grunted Bucky, pushing past him to the room on the other side of Steve. “Stark!”

“Barnes!” replied a handsome young man with messy brown hair, but Steve was more focused on the room.

The classroom was like a toolbox had eaten a museum and then exploded. There were strange posters (maybe of bands of which Steve had never heard) and even stranger creations (possibly a working robot arm) with worktables strew about in a way that was probably not safe. Stark was starting his second year of teaching with them, if Steve remembered correctly, but he had never had a real conversation with the man.

“Turn down your damn music!” yelled Bucky, pulling the plug on an old radio near the door. “You are driving me crazy!”

“Oh don’t pretend you don’t love my taste in music,” scoffed Stark.

“At least this year there’s a classroom between us so I don’t have to listen to your insufferable noise all year.”

“Personally I’m still peeved that they took away my supply closet and turned it into an art classroom.”

“Hey! You got something against art?” said Steve, interjecting himself into the conversation indignantly.

“Calm down, Captain Justice, I’m not against art, I’m against my storage closet being taken away so now my classroom looks like a hoarders autoshop,” said Stark.

“Just keep the music down,” said Bucky before stomping away.

“I’m Tony, by the way,” said Stark, holding out his hand to Steve. “Sorry about that. I hope my music wasn’t too loud for you – I couldn’t help blasting it just to annoy Barnes.”

“You did that on purpose?”

“Yeah,” said Tony casually, turning back to the robot thing. “You’ve got to rile him up sometimes. You know, keeps him young.”

Steve wasn’t sure if Tony was joking or not, but he was sure that he was in for an interesting year.

\- After First Hour –

By the end of the first week of school Steve had learned three things about his new Wing.  
1\. Small to moderate explosions were not something to panic over if they originated from Tony’s classroom (and Principal Fury would be pissed if he pulled the fire alarm over it a third time)  
2\. Bucky and Tony spent a lot of time antagonizing each other (but all pranks seemed pretty harmless)  
3\. All of the students shipped Bucky and Tony so hard. Even Raychel the Homophobic senior wanted them to get together already.

Bucky and Tony, it appeared, were oblivious to the way the students kept trying to get them together. If they weren’t insulting each other in the hall during the passing period they were setting up a new prank against the other. It seemed that nothing would unite them – until the third Tuesday morning of the year.

Staff meetings were once a month, after school on Mondays. The first one of the year had just taken place the day before and Principal Fury had announced that they would only be supplying decaf coffee in the teachers lounge from that point on. He didn’t give a reason but everyone knew that it was because Wanda the Remedial Geography teacher was pregnant and had demanded the change. Wanda was always insisting on being held to different standards and most people were scared of her and the fits she could throw so they let it happen. But the point was that there was no more regular coffee in the lounge.

Bucky had the first hour off that morning and when the first class ended, Steve walked into the hall by his door to find Tony leaning against his own door, mostly asleep, hands empty. At first, Steve couldn’t figure out why that looked so strange – not the mostly-asleep part but the empty-hands part. Then he realized that Tony was always holding an oversized mug of coffee after first hour.

“Whoever invented decaf coffee should be forced to teach high school,” groaned Tony.

Suddenly the students parted as Bucky marched towards his classroom, wearing his favored black slacks and charcoal button up, hair in a bun and looking a bit like he was on a mission to murder someone. He held two large travel mugs, one in each hand. 

“Wake up earlier tomorrow and get your own coffee,” grunted Bucky, thrusting one of the mugs into Tony’s hands, barely breaking stride.

“I did!” mumbled Tony. “It’s second coffee I no longer get because Fury is a scared dictator ruled by hormones and redheads.”

“Then buy a coffee maker for your classroom!”

“You buy a coffee maker for your classroom!”

The warning bell rang, sending the momentarily frozen students towards their respective classes. Steve entered his own room and started passing out clean paper while the students settled.

“Mr. Barnes gave Mr. Stark coffee!” said Clint, the class gossip, rushing into the room just as the tardy bell sounded. “Guys! This is for real!”

“Take your seat, Mr. Barton,” said Steve.

“But Mr. Rogers, you don’t understand,” said Clint seriously. “You used to live in the Art Wing but the rest of us have had to be in the Science Wing every day. We’ve been waiting a year for this moment. Those two need to get together because they are obviously in love.”

“And you, a high school junior, would know all about being in love,” drawled Steve.

“They prank each other all the time,” interjected Sam, Clint’s friend and co-captain of the Bird Watching Club. “But not like mean pranks. Fun pranks. It’s like their own version of pulling pigtails.”

“And have you ever noticed how they will argue and insult each other all day long but the moment someone else tries to say something negative about one of them the other is always the first to defend them?” said Clint. “They’re in love, I tell you! And Mr. Barnes just gave Mr. Stark coffee.”

“And as exciting as it might be, the love lives of your teachers should not be the center of my class time,” said Steve. “So let’s move on and focus on drawing stationary objects.”

Steve received a few dirty looks from Clint and Sam but the class eventually settled in to their drawings.

Bucky bringing Tony coffee after first hour became commonplace. The pranks didn’t lessen and the bickering didn’t stop, but every morning the students would wait and watch as Mr. Barnes gave Mr. Stark a travel mug of coffee. By the third morning, Mr. Stark started giving Mr. Barnes a paper bag with a half dozen donut holes from the bakery down the street. It became part of their after-first-hour exchange and was the only guaranteed moment of peace between the two for the day.

By October, news had spread that the two science teachers were a step closer to admitting their feelings. Students who didn’t have science class until later in the day started making stops to the Science Wing after first hour to see for themselves if the rumors were true. It made the halls much more congested and was driving Steve up the wall. Finally, he invited both men to get drinks with him after school in hopes of getting them to talk about their feelings or something – anything to stop the madness in the hall after first hour.

The bar was a clean joint called, ‘The Diner’ that served food but carded at the door so only those over 21 could enter. It was a block from the high school and run by a former teacher who understood the need for a safe place for other teachers to drink and have a nice meal without fear of running into students.

“Thanks for inviting us out, Steve,” said Tony, sliding into the booth next to Bucky and across from Steve.

Steve was surprised, he had assumed one of the men would sit next to him to avoid sitting so close to the other.

“Hey babe, how were the hooligans for you today?” asked Tony, pecking Bucky on the lips with a grin.

Steve was pretty sure it was impossible for eyes to actually pop out of ones head but his were certainly doing their best to do just that.

“Not bad,” replied Bucky, wrapping an arm around Tony’s shoulders, pulling the other man in close. “I got to give Banner detention again, so that was nice. He deserved it. I wish Fury would just suspend him already, that kid has no business being near science equipment.”

“Aw, I like Banner,” pouted Tony. “Look, I’ll talk to Fury and see about getting Banner transferred at semester, okay? Try to not get him expelled before that.”

“Fine. But you owe me.”

“Wait, I’m confused,” said Steve, finding his voice again when it appeared that he was indeed not seeing things. “I thought you two hated each other.”

“Why would you think that?” asked Tony, his falsely innocent smile going over Steve’s head.

“Because you’re always arguing!”

“Naw, we just like to make the kids think we hate each other,” said Bucky. “Keeps them off our backs about our love life.”

“Everyone in the school wants you two to get together!” yelled Steve.

“We know,” laughed Tony. “We plan on making it a big to-do around prom time to take away from all the prom-ma. We’ve got to work up to it, though. Bucky bringing me coffee, me giving him a donut, we’re thinking ‘accidental’ matching Halloween costumes. Would that be taking it too far?”

“So this is all an act?”

“No, we really are together,” said Bucky. “Have been for about a year now. It started off as a bit of a joke. See, we didn’t want to deal with school regulations about co-workers dating if it was just going to be a fling, so we kept up appearances at school. But then it turned more serious and we found we just really enjoyed messing with the kids and faculty.”

Steve glared first at Bucky and then at Tony.

“You two are actual children, you know that?” sulked Steve.

Tony laughed while Bucky kissed his cheek.

“So do you want in on the plan?” offered Tony with an eager grin.

“Yeah, okay,” said Steve, s smirk finally breaking out on his face.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! I had a wonderful time wandering Spain but it turns out money is still something I need so I have returned to earn some more. I had lots of ideas while I was gone and am in the middle of typing out another Adopted Tony fic if that interests anyone (I'm in the middle of it even if it doesn't interest anyone).
> 
> Also, can anyone tell me what BNF means?
> 
> Always,  
> Ari


End file.
